Making Up a Cultivation Method on the Spot

"Disciple Xu Yan pays respects to Master!"

Xu Yan was beside himself with excitement. With a thud, he dropped to his knees and respectfully kowtowed.

"Mm, rise."

Li Xuan silently reached out and closed the box containing the gifts for acknowledging a master. His expression turned stern as he assumed the air of a strict teacher.

He had not wanted to deceive anyone, but Xu Yan had simply offered too much.

He had accepted the disciple, but as for a cultivation method?

He had none!

But that was no matter. He could just make one up.

Li Xuan reckoned that in his previous life, he had been a failed webnovel author. Making up a cultivation method should not be too difficult.

Judging by how slow-witted Xu Yan seemed, he probably would not be able to tell whether the method was real or fake.

And if he could not cultivate his way in?

That would naturally not be a problem with the method, but a problem with his aptitude.

"Yes, Master!"

Xu Yan rose excitedly and looked at Li Xuan with eager eyes.

"Master, when will you teach me a cultivation method?"

Seeing the anticipation in Xu Yan's eyes, Li Xuan clasped one hand behind his back and slowly said in a deliberately profound tone, "I will accept you as my disciple for now. But if you fail to enter the path within one year, it will mean that you and I are not fated as master and disciple. From then on, you must not continue to pester your master. Do you understand?"

Xu Yan's heart tightened. He drew a deep breath and solemnly replied, "I understand!"

"Master, rest assured. If this disciple cannot enter the path within a year, then my aptitude is insufficient, and I cannot blame Master. This disciple will completely give up the thought and will no longer disturb Master's quiet cultivation!"

Li Xuan wore a gratified expression. It was truly wonderful that his disciple possessed such awareness.

Let alone a year—even ten years or a hundred years would be nowhere near enough for him to enter the path.

Before making up a cultivation method and teaching it to Xu Yan, Li Xuan needed to learn about the outside world and the state of martial arts in this world.

Since Xu Yan had mistaken him for a Reclusive Master who had withdrawn from the world, it was only natural for him to be unaware of the situation outside. Thus, Li Xuan asked directly.

The less Li Xuan knew about the outside world, the less Xu Yan doubted him. Instead, he became even more convinced that his master was an ancient monster who had secluded himself from the world, with cultivation reaching the heavens and eternal youth.

Naturally, Xu Yan answered every question without holding anything back.

After learning from him for a while, Li Xuan gained a rough understanding of the outside world.

The small mountain village was located within Donghe Commandery of the Qi Kingdom. The Qi Kingdom had stood for over a century and was currently at the height of its prosperity.

There were three nations in the world today: the Qi Kingdom, the Wu Kingdom, and the Northern Barbarian Royal Court.

From Xu Yan, Li Xuan learned that the martial arts of this world did not seem especially powerful. There were no abilities to move mountains and drain seas, nor the power to ride the air and fly. Even the strong could merely leap across eaves and scale walls, jump several zhang, and lift a thousand jin.

As for Xu Yan, he had been obsessed with tale books and legends since childhood. He had vowed to find an expert and cultivate an incomparably powerful peerless divine art.

As a result, he had become somewhat well-known in Donghe Commandery—but not in a good way. Everyone said that the young master of the Xu Family was slow in the head, actually believing the legends in storybooks and seeking out some Reclusive Master to learn from!

Having learned about the outside world, Li Xuan felt somewhat disappointed. Could it be that this was not a world of high martial arts? That there were no incomparably powerful martial arts?

Of course, perhaps Xu Yan simply had no access to such things.

Whichever it was, it was not something Li Xuan could investigate at his current stage. Having learned the general level of martial strength in the outside world, he gained a rough idea of how to fabricate a cultivation method to fool Xu Yan.

Actually succeeding in cultivation was impossible. He would fool him for the time being. If Xu Yan could not enter the path, that would be because his aptitude was poor, not because Li Xuan's method was lacking.

With that thought, Li Xuan said, "The method I will teach you places emphasis on the word 'comprehension.' Whether you can enter the path will depend on your aptitude and talent."

"I will give you one year. If you cannot enter the path within that year, then it means we are not fated."

Xu Yan was exhilarated, yet also uneasy, afraid that he would fail to enter the path. Drawing a deep breath, he respectfully said, "Master, please impart the method to me. If I cannot enter the path, then it is because I, Xu Yan, lack fortune and virtue!"

Li Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, raised his head slightly to look at the sky, and said in a slow, weighty tone, "The path of martial arts has no end. But at the beginning of cultivation, it is nothing more than Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, Organ Refining..."

Xu Yan's eyes shone with excitement as he listened quietly, afraid of missing even a single word.

As Li Xuan recalled how he had made up cultivation realms for webnovels in his previous life, he refined the details and organized them into a relatively complete outline of cultivation.

"The beginning of martial arts starts with sensing Vital Energy. Only after sensing Vital Energy can one enter the Skin Tempering stage. If one cannot even sense Vital Energy, then everything else is empty talk..."

"Skin Tempering, as the name suggests, tempers the skin and flesh membrane. Once one reaches Skin Tempering Completion, the skin becomes incomparably tough. Ordinary people's blades and swords will struggle to injure you; even if they cut across your body, they will leave only a faint pale mark..."

Since he was making it up anyway, he naturally had to exaggerate the might of martial arts. After Skin Tempering Completion, ordinary blades and swords could barely harm you—was that not impressive?

Seeing Xu Yan's excited expression, Li Xuan knew he had already fooled him.

This is true martial arts! At merely Skin Tempering, ordinary blades and swords can no longer injure you. How powerful must Bone Refining and Organ Refining be?

I, Xu Yan, have finally found a Reclusive Master and learned true martial arts. Once I enter the path, let me see who still dares mock me!

Xu Yan's gaze was feverish, and his heart surged with excitement.

"Master, does reaching Skin Tempering mean I have entered the path?"

Xu Yan asked excitedly.

"This..."

Li Xuan instinctively wanted to nod and tell Xu Yan that Skin Tempering meant entering the path.

But on second thought, would that not seem a little too simple?

Since he was fooling him anyway, he might as well keep inflating it.

Thus, he said sternly, "Of course not. Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, and Organ Refining are merely the foundation of martial arts. They do not even count as entering the path!"

Xu Yan was shocked. Skin Tempering already makes one resistant to blades and swords. Bone Refining and Organ Refining must naturally be even more powerful. Yet that still does not count as entering the martial path? It is only the foundation? Then how powerful will one be after truly entering the path?

At that moment, Xu Yan's heart was filled with yearning and longing for entering the martial path.

"Master, what counts as entering the martial path?"

"Entering the martial path? Once you reach Organ Refining Completion, your Vital Energy circulates through a full cycle, your physical body undergoes a minor transformation, your bones and muscles give a thunderous roar, and your Vital Energy becomes like Steel Aura—that is considered entering the path."

"Master, after entering the martial path, what does minor achievement look like? What about major achievement? How strong will one become?"

"Martial arts have their realms. After entering the path, when your Vital Energy shoots a hundred zhang into the sky, burns fiercely like fire, causes demons and evil spirits to flee at the sight of it, and can boil rivers and seas—then you will have reached major achievement..."

Li Xuan continued making things up on the spot.

The more Xu Yan listened, the more excited he became. Just as he was about to continue asking, Li Xuan waved a hand to interrupt him. "Enough. You have not even entered the path yet, so do not ask too much. Remember, you must not aim too high. Cultivation requires patience. A restless, impetuous heart is detrimental to cultivation!"

"Yes, Master!"

Xu Yan's heart trembled, and he hurriedly answered with respect.

"Mm."

Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction. It was not that he did not want to continue; he simply had not yet made up the later stages of cultivation.

The three fabricated stages of Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, and Organ Refining were already enough to fool Xu Yan. Let alone one year, he would absolutely never truly cultivate to Skin Tempering even in eight or ten years.

Much less enter the path.

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